Amazing Stories of Suspense #154
In "He Floats Thru the Air," a 1976 issue of Amazing Stories of Suspense, a seemingly ordinary elevator operator becomes the unlikely center of a tense standoff when a spy holds a passer-by at gunpoint in a hotel. Written by Stan Lee and Larry Lieber, with art by Don Heck and lettering by Artie Simek, the story takes a surreal turn when the operator calmly vanishes mid-scene—revealing the building’s 13th floor is a phantom, rendering the bomb useless. The cover, by Bill Everett and Carl Burgos, captures the moment of suspense with striking, classic flair.
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An oddly cheerful elevator operator is held at gunpoint with a passer-by by a spy planning to blow up the hotel. The elevator lets the spy off at the 13th floor, and while the passer-by is terrified, the elevator operator simply fades away, explaining that the bomb will never go off, since there is no 13th floor.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).